Half of Public Avoid Dentist Due to Costs

A survey has found that nearly half of the public are put off visiting the dentist because they are worried about how much it will cost.

Many of those taking part in the survey claimed that they would rather live with the pain, going to the extreme of pulling out their own teeth, than paying for an extraction on the NHS.

The survey took into account the cost of dental care over recent years, and found that it has gone up at over twice the rate of inflation due to the introduction of a new NHS charging system.

Since 2005, the average cost of a visit to the dentist has gone up by 7 percent, and the new pricing regime was originally introduced in 2006 alongside contractual changes for dentists.

As part of the change, payments were put into three bands. Patients were originally paying £194 for the most expensive treatments, and £15.90 for check-ups which had previously cost just £6.

The higher costs had a huge effect, and one million fewer people are now seeing a dentist than before the changes in 2006.

This survey of 1,000 conducted by Tesco Dental Insurance has found that 42 percent of Brits are put off visiting the dentist at all due to these rising costs.

Of those surveyed in London, 14 percent said that had to pay out more than £300 to dentists in the last year.

Many others across the country were put off visiting the dentist, with 10 percent of people in Nottingham saying they would rather live with the pain, and 6 percent of those in Cardiff saying they would consider extracting their own teeth.